By M&C Movie News Dec 20, 2007, 16:52 GMT
Sam Raimi is set to return to his roots with the supernatural thriller Drag Me to Hell – which he will direct based on a script he wrote with his brother, Ivan Raimi.
Sam Raimi - 30 Days of Night Los Angeles Premiere - Grauman's Chinese Theater - Hollywood, CA © David Gabber / PR Photos
Variety reports the film will head into production in early 2008, and will be financed through Ghost House – a company Raimi and Rob Tapert formed several years ago with Mandate Pictures. Raimi and Tapert will produce the film with Grant Curtis. Executive producing duties will be handled by Mandate's Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake.
The film’s plot follows the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse.
In Variety, Tapert stated Raimi and his brother wrote the script before forming Ghost House, and its original title was The Curse. The brothers finished the script after working together for 1992's Army of Darkness.
Tapert stated: “Sam calls it a 'spook-a-blast,' a wild ride with all the chills and spills that 'Evil Dead' delivered, without relying on the excessive violence of that film. When one has done three very expensive movies, they get used to eating caviar. Sam will have to ponder what it means to come down from the mountaintop for a moment.”
Drag Me to Hell will be the first film Raimi has directed for his Ghost House studio – which has saw success on the big screen thanks to films like The Grudge, The Grudge 2, and 30 Days of Night. The studio is working on a remake of Raimi’s classic horror hit Evil Dead - which was released in 1981.
In Variety, Tapert further stated: "The appeal to Sam on 'Drag Me to Hell' was returning to what he had once done and loved doing, which was entertaining a very specific group of fans and providing a roller coaster ride for them. He doesn't have the enormous pressure here that goes with handling a hundreds of millions of dollars franchise."
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